for a few moments after laura had descended from the wall the trio walked along in silence. bruce, who had been really startled by the sudden apparition of the black-bearded man, was too busy with his own thoughts to do much talking. what did the presence of this mysterious stranger in that part of the town signify? could it be that he was following up the boy just as he had followed up the father? bruce could not drive from his mind the remembrance of what weyman had told him, and now, whenever he thought of his father, he remembered that on the very day when he went to his death in the smoke and the flames of the broadway fire that same bearded stranger had called to see him and they had had a long, earnest talk together.
and now, twice within a week, the stranger’s path had crossed that of the boy. was this a mere accident or was he deliberately shadowing the young lad with a view to wreaking further vengeance on him? as for laura, she was fairly bubbling over with excitement, but she said 109nothing for fear of awakening her brother’s suspicion. she wished that she could devise some excuse for getting him out of the way, if only for a few minutes, in order that she might have a few words with bruce, and so as they paused for a moment at a turn in the road, she said innocently: “you see that fence down there by the brook? well, tommy martin ran and jumped over it the other day and leaped clean on the other side of the brook. he’s the best jumper anywhere around here.”
now, tommy martin was a boy who lived near them and who often came over to visit them—a boy of whom harry was decidedly jealous, partly because they had already been looked upon as rivals in such sports as running and jumping, and partly because they both liked the same girl, kitty harriott, a particular friend of laura’s. laura knew all about this rivalry when she took pains to point out the fence and brook over which tommy had leaped so brilliantly, and she was not surprised when harry burst forth contemptuously: “what do you mean by the best jumper anywhere about here? you don’t call that anything of a jump, do you? why that’s nothing at all. i can go over it myself and i’ll bet i’ll strike two feet further on the other side than tom did!”
110with these words he slipped off his coat, walked over toward the spot indicated by his sister, surveyed it carefully and then walked back a dozen paces in order to make a flying leap. while he was doing this laura had gasped out to bruce, “was that really the man with the black beard and the scar that went by?”
“yes,” replied the boy, “i’d know him anywhere i saw him. did you get a fair look at him?”
“not very,” answered laura, “but i think i would know him again if i saw him. wasn’t that neat, the way i got harry away for a minute? now, you must be sure not to say a word to him or to anybody else about that man. we’ll keep that a secret for ourselves. my! just look at harry, he’s going to take that jump. the silly fool, tommy never jumped over that, i just told harry that so as to get him out of the way a minute. he thinks he can do everything that tommy does and they’re both of them perfectly wild over the same girl, who is my dearest friend. i’ve told her all about you, and she’s just crazy to see you.”
at this moment harry leaped boldly over the fence and landed on the other side, but not quite where he had expected. either the 111brook was wider than he supposed or else his foot slipped, but somehow, instead of alighting on the grassy bank he struck in about two feet of water, clutched wildly at the branch of an overhanging tree and then fell over on his back. laura began to laugh, but bruce, fearing that his friend might have been hurt by his fall, ran down to help him. he crossed the fence just as harry climbed up on the shore sputtering and blowing and wiping the mud and water from his face. he was completely soaked, and his cap was drifting rapidly down stream.
“are you hurt?” demanded bruce anxiously.
“no, of course i’m not, but i’ll bet you tommy martin never made that jump; laura just said that to get me into the water. never mind she’ll catch it when we get home. what are you laughing at up there?” he continued, turning suddenly and addressing himself to his sister who was standing by the roadside with amusement pictured on her face. “perhaps you won’t think it so funny after a while,” continued the boy, angrily, and then bruce, fearing that he too might be moved to laughter by his comical appearance, ran off down the stream to recover the lost cap.
harry was soaking wet, and there was nothing for him to do but take off his coat and 112waistcoat and place them on a big rock on which the sun had been shining all day, while he himself sat down beside them, wrung the water out of his trousers and began to dry off. he was in the midst of the drying process when bruce said to laura in a low whisper, “i’ve just got an idea in my head about that man. doesn’t mr. dexter live near here?”
“yes,” replied the young girl, “about a quarter of a mile further on.”
“then he was going that way when he passed us, wasn’t he?”
“certainly he was; why i wonder if it could be possible that he was going up there. do let us hurry on.”
“i do believe that you two have got some sort of a secret between you,” exclaimed harry, suddenly looking up. “what man are you talking about? i tell you you’d better let me know all about it.”
“secret,” said laura, slyly, “there’s no secret in what i was saying, because everybody knows it. i was just telling him about kitty and you, and there’s lots more things i could tell him if i wanted to.”
harry dropped the conversation at this point, and a minute or two later he picked up his 113coat and vest, declared that he was dry enough anyway and proposed that they should continue their walk. in a few minutes he had completely recovered his good humor and offered bruce to run him a race to the next gateway. bruce accepted the challenge, never doubting that he could win it, but he found to his surprise that the slim, active, young new yorker was a much fleeter runner than he was, and, do what he could, strain every nerve as he might, he reached the goal completely out of breath and fully fifty feet behind his adversary, whom he found standing by the gate post looking, as he expressed it, “as fresh as a daisy,” and laughing all over at his own success.
bruce was just a little bit annoyed to find himself so easily beaten by a lad whose appearance indicated anything but strength and agility, but when he saw how the little bit of excitement and the triumph of winning the race had restored his friends temper to its usual good-natured pitch and completely dispelled a feeling which might have culminated in a quarrel, he was rather glad on the whole that he himself had lost.
therefore he simply smiled pleasantly, and said what was perfectly true: “well, i never thought you could run like that.”
114then they sat down on the big, white marble carriage block and waited for laura, whom they could see approaching at a leisurely pace. bruce realized, as he looked about him, that they were not far from the dexter mansion. in fact, by going out in the middle of the road, he could easily see the dark clump of firs and pines and the grey gate posts which guarded the entrance. as they walked along he and laura exchanged significant glances from time to time and as they drew near to the house, he said to harry, “that’s the house i went to for those magazines and papers that day i met you.”
“why, do you know old man dexter?” demanded the boy with much interest.
“no,” said bruce, “except that he was very nice to me that day. did you ever meet him?”
“not for a long while,” replied harry.
“let’s all go into the grounds and see what the place looks like,” said laura.
“you’d better not, laura,” said her brother, significantly, “we’ll be sure to be caught if we do, and you know perfectly well what papa said would happen if he heard of our going there.”
“well, i’ve a great mind to go in there and ask mr. dexter if he has any more magazines for us,” said bruce, bravely. “i’m not afraid 115of those thick woods, and i’m not afraid of him either. come along, let’s all go in there.”
“i’d just as leave go,” said laura, defiantly, “even if we were told not to, but listen, there comes somebody now.” they had just reached the gateway by this time and as they peered through it into the shadowy depths of the fir woods, they heard the quick hoof-beats of approaching horses, and in another moment a buggy drawn by two black horses, came down through the grounds at a swift pace and passed through the gateway into the road. the tall, bearded and scarred stranger held the reins and beside him sat mr. samuel dexter. laura held her breath with excitement, and an eager gleam came into bruce’s eyes as he turned significantly toward her. another link had been added to the chain in which he was trying to connect the past with the present. mr. dexter and the mysterious one were evidently friends, and he resolved that the very next day he would go to him, tell him his own history as far as he knew of it, and ask him to help him solve the remainder of it.
“what are you going to do?” whispered laura, excitedly. bruce made no reply except to shake his head and place his fingers on his lips as if to command silence.
